The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday (Nov. 26) that it will decide whether for-profit businesses can be treated like religious entities in a politically and constitutionally freighted test of the Obama administration’s mandate that employers include free contraception coverage as part of their health plans.

The cases, which will probably be argued in March and decided in June, will not deal with a string of other lawsuits over the mandate that have been filed by nonprofit faith-based groups. Those complaints are still working their way through the lower courts.

Response: At stake in this case is whether business and corporation owners can claim religious freedom rights in the running of their businesses. Do the religious rights and conscience of individuals extend into the business entities that they own and run? Hopefully so. This has not been really challenged in the past. However it is not nearly as clear as the cases involving allied religious organizations and religion based non-profits which the court will presumably consider at a later date.

The ruling could also have some implications for those cases where business owners have refused to be involved in providing services for same-sex marriages for religious reasons. Though most of those cases revolve around conflicting civil rights. If the religious rights of business owners are upheld in this case then it will supply some additional support for religious freedom in these other cases also. *Top